Pro Kabbadi League: Narender’s journey from NYP to MVP

CHENNAI: In a riveting tale of aspiration turned to triumph, the 23-year-old Kabaddi prodigy, Narender Kandola, has marked his territory as a force to reckon with in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL).

Budain village in Haryana, known for its rich kabaddi tradition, has now added another name to its hall of fame. Many players like Sandeep Kandola, Vikas Kandola and Vikram Kandola have come from this place to become stars. Following his idols, Narendar has embarked on his PKL debut season playing for Tamil Thalaivas in the New Young Player (NYP) category.

Narender had a dream start in PKL with a staggering 243 raid points overall in his debut, surpassing Siddarth Desai’s record and became the fourth highest scorer of last season. This has set huge expectations around the youngster coming into this season who will now don the robes of Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the Thalaivas.

But the ever-serene Narender, speaking to DT Next about the added pressure said, “These factors do not put any pressure on me. I’m working hard on improving my game. And as the opportunity presents itself, it’s my duty to put all that effort into use.”

His performance in Khelo India Youth Games and Junior Nationals have been a major factor in Tamil Thalaivas roping in the youngster in its squad. This transition of playing in PKL will prove to be challenging at times. Expressing his thoughts on this change he added, “The shift from playing junior level games to PKL is obviously a challenge, but this league has played a major role in building a platform for the youth to let their talent shine in a place where it will reach people across the world. So, one must adapt to the change if they want to build a career in Kabaddi.”

For the breakout star, the opportunity presented itself when Pawan Sehrawat got injured in the opening game last season providing Narender with a chance to step up. He did a great job in helping the team’s offense in the absence of Pawan which secured many wins for the side. From idolising him to fitting into his shoes, the youngster had come a long way just in his debut season. But things didn’t stop there. One of the most anticipated battles this season was when Tamil Thalaivas took on Telugu Titans led by Pawan. The fearless Narender set the mat ablaze as he was the highest point scorer of the game helping the team to beat Telugu Titans in an intense thriller.

Narender has continued his great form this season as a consistent raider and he is now the second highest points scorer for the team after the big gun Ajinkya Pawar. Speaking about his aspirations for this season, Narender said, “This season’s target is obviously to top my performance from last year. We will work hard to take the team into the finals.”

Narender’s magic will be effective especially in the later stages of the season which requires players to deliver consistent performances and thrive under pressure in high-stake games.